U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tours Latin America this week for a journey that takes her through the Southern Cone, Brazil, and Central America. Though hers is a trip through the Americas, it involves Middle East policy. “I’m on my way to Latin America next week. And Iran is at the top of my agenda,” said Clinton in February 24 testimony at a Senate Appropriation Committee, hinting at concern over Brazil’s deepening ties with Iran. But that was before an 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile, one of the stops on the secretary’s trip. Her trip runs from February 28 through March 5 and she travels to Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Guatemala.

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Colombia’s constitutional court ended a two-year-old waiting game on February 26 when it voted against a reelection referendum that could have paved the way for President Álvaro Uribe to seek a third term. In a vote of 7 to 2, the court rejected the referendum as unconstitutional, saying that it was not only laden with irregularities but “substantial violations to democratic principles.” By sounding the referendum’s death knell, the court set off a presidential race previously frozen in limbo and candidates are recalibrating their campaigns for a May 30 election that won’t list Uribe on the ballot. Beforehand, Colombia holds legislative elections on March 14. 

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An 8.8-magnitude earthquake struck Chile on February 27. The disaster left thousands homeless and wreaked havoc on infrastructure while setting off tsunami warnings in dozens of Pacific countries.

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Buenos Aires brought its concerns about the Falkland Islands to the United Nations this week as a dispute with the United Kingdom heated up over the archipelago’s sovereignty. While Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner drew support for her country’s territorial claims from fellow Latin American leaders during the Rio Summit, a British company began drilling operations in the Falkland basin. A Spanish-Argentine partnership announced intentions to explore for oil as well, but in Argentine territory. The prospect of large oil reserves has brought a new twist on a decades-old disagreement over the Falklands—or Malvinas.

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It may seem difficult to find an upshot to the massive natural disaster that hit Haiti last month. Yet the earthquake did lead to mended fences with the Dominican Republic. “The Dominicans were the first to arrive with help, with doctors, food, and aid,” says Alice Blanchet, a special advisor to Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive. “They were stellar.” Despite long-running tensions between Port-au-Prince and Santo Domingo, the disaster has drawn the neighbors closer together. As The Economist put it, the result is “[a] break in a history of mistrust.” But how long that break will last could be tested, particularly given recent changes in Dominican immigration policy.

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A blizzard of bad news hit the start of the Winter Olympics last week. Hours before the opening ceremony, a Georgian athlete died in a tragic accident while practicing on the luge track in an incident that drew safety concerns. The unseasonably warm weather has led some to dub these Games the first “Spring Olympics.” Organizers, faced with a lack of snow, refunded general admission tickets to some events this week, translating to $400,000 in lost-ticket revenue. But even as news reports cast light on the Games’ unwanted hurdles, local officials hope to showcase Vancouver during the Olympics and help shepherd along its economic recovery.

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Three years ago, in the wake of Mexico's contentious presidential election, few would have predicted an alliance between the race's two rival parties. But the ruling conservative National Action Party (PAN) and the left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) are considering just that as they face a resurgent Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). After sustaining losses in last year’s midterm election and with 12 governorships up for grabs this year, the two parties hope a union can undercut the PRI's gains ahead of the 2012 presidential vote. Yet voters might not buy the alliance between two teams with disparate ideologies.

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The question of how to handle Haitian migration looms in the wake of the destructive earthquake. Washington already granted protected status to Haitians who arrived in the United States before January 12, but debate grows over whether to ease immigration rules for refugees as part of recovery efforts.

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L.A. County Fire Department and Rescue team in Port-au-Prince. (U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Justin Stumberg)In the week since a massive earthquake devastated Haiti, the world has been gripped by tragic news of chaos and death as well as hopeful rescue stories. Donors desperate to support relief efforts text and twitter information and ways to help. Even as a tense delay in food distribution continues while troops and aid workers arrive on the ground, questions arise over Haiti’s future—and who should help the country recover.

“For those who have lost everything, help cannot come soon enough,” wrote UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki moon in an article penned after he visited Haiti over the weekend. On January 19, the UN Security Council backed his motion to send 3,500 additional UN peacekeepers to Haiti in the wake of the disaster, augmenting the 7,000-strong MINUSTAH forces already on the ground. Brazil has largest number of soldiers among the UN forces and will contribute to the increase by doubling its more than 1,250 troops there. Washington plans to bolster military forces by sending 10,000 U.S. troops within weeks.

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Sebastián Piñera won Chile’s second-round elections on January 17, marking the first loss by the Concertación coalition in two decades. The billionaire emerged as the clear victor by Sunday evening, pulling in nearly 52 percent of the vote in the race against former President Eduardo Frei.

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Shoppers flocked to stores over the weekend even as Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez warned companies against price increases. Caracas announced a devaluation of the bolivar in a move that sparked a rally on Venezuelan debt—as well as inflation worries.

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Census 2010 forms don’t get mailed until March, but the U.S. Census Bureau kicked off a national campaign this week in hopes of ensuring participation in the count. The million campaign includes cross-country road tours to raise awareness about the decennial survey and reach out to typically undercounted populations, including Hispanics. The counts factor into the distribution of $400 billion in annual federal funding to state and local governments. Despite the link between funding and completing the Census, the survey has sparked division between Latino leaders urging Hispanics to fill out the forms and those who contend that Latinos should boycott the survey unless Washington approves comprehensive immigration reform.

The Census Bureau estimates that nearly 250,000 Latinos went uncounted during the 2000 Census. But the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials places the figure closer to one million. Undercounting in 2000 cost states $4.1 billion in federal funding. California alone lost $1.5 billion. On Wednesday, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaragaisa—arguably one of the country’s most prominent Hispanic politicians—joined Latino leaders in calling for census participation. He argued that Los Angeles lost $200 million worth of federal cash because of undercounting in the last round.

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Mexico rang in the New Year with a series of tax hikes in hopes of easing a budget deficit sparked by last year's financial crisis. On Monday, tax increases went into effect on income, consumer goods, and phone service, along with an rise in fuel prices. The country’s tax revenues in terms of GDP rank among the lowest in the world. Still, the hikes could lead to inflation and dampen the country’s 2010 growth rate. The tax increases come as President Felipe Calderón kicks off the second half of his term with an ambitious political reform proposal.

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